How the Stuxnet Worm Hit Iran's Nuclear Plant

New clues about Stuxnet provide the strongest evidence yet that the superworm targeted a nuclear enrichment plant in Iran, according to a new report.

The clues come from surveillance cameras installed by international investigators at the Natanz enrichment plant in Iran – which show Iranian workers feverishly replacing damaged equipment during the time Stuxnet is believed to have attacked the plant. Other clues appear in the attack code itself, showing that the worm targeted a configuration that researchers now say match precisely the centrifuge setup at Natanz. And still more clues are found in connection to five organizations that researchers say were first targeted by the worm before it hit Natanz.

The findings come in a report released Tuesday (.pdf) by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), which says that while Stuxnet may have hit Natanz, its impact on Iran's nuclear program was not detrimental.

Stuxnet was discovered last June by researchers at a security firm in Belarus who found it on infected machines belonging to customers in Iran. Recent reports have indicated that the malware was developed by a U.S. government lab and tested in Israel before being unleashed.…

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Also see this Dome News item.